Though improving your posture is no easy feat, having good posture can help you look and feel better. If you find yourself slouching a lot, take steps to work on your posture in all parts of your life, from walking to sleeping. Though improvement takes time, you can use brain tricks to help you remember to correct your posture, as well as try out a few exercises to strengthen your muscles.

People who dance are easy to spot, even offstage. “They’re very aware of their body’s position in space, and they move almost like cats,” says Marie-Louise Bird, a Pilates researcher and post-doctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia. “But most of us are more like puppy dogs, moving without much attention paid to our posture.”

Luckily, the puppy dogs among us don’t have to go to dance school to get better body awareness. They can just do Pilates.

Ever since Joseph Pilates founded his studio in New York City about a century ago, […]

It’s time to stop scoffing at Pilates. While the workout Opens a New Window. —which focuses on building core strength Opens a New Window. , mobility, flexibility, and strength Opens a New Window. —seems to be primarily loved by women, it was actually created by a man—a German bodybuilder at that. And today some of the fittest men on the planet (i.e. Navy SEALs) turn to the discipline to counteract their weaknesses and become more well-rounded athletes.

“When you’re out on a site somewhere, you can’t just pop into the gym and get your […]

Earlier this year, Harvard Medical School published an updated reflection on Yoga for Anxiety and Depression. It was noted that nearly 8 percent of American adults had “tried yoga at least once” and around 4 percent had practiced yoga in the last year. Most importantly however, the report summarized studies that focus on how yoga modulates our pain/stress response systems. This is a good thing. Because “the scientific study of yoga demonstrates that mental and physical health are not just closely allied, but are essentially equivalent.”

For a sense of ease that can permeate your whole life, try practicing mindfulness meditation techniques on the mat.

By: NORA ISAACS Original Article

You’re standing in Virabhadrasana I (Warrior Pose I). You actively reach through your back foot and allow your tailbone to descend away from your lower back as your arms reach up toward the ceiling. As you hold the pose you start to notice your front thigh burning, your shoulders holding tension, and your breath becoming labored. Still holding. Soon you get agitated and start to anticipate the joy you’ll feel when the pose is over. […]

You probably already know about the myriad health benefits associated with a daily mindfulness practice. Meditation has been credited with everything from stress relief to weight loss and even increasing longevity. But finding the time and patience to actually implement a regular meditation practice can be intimidating. Who has 10—or even five—extra minutes in their busy schedule to just sit down and be? And when you actually do try it out, you might feel like you aren’t getting anything out of it.

Not to worry, though: Turns out, you can reap the brain-boosting benefits […]

There are many reasons why exercising in the summer is fun and more feasible than ever. For starters, there is much more daylight during the summer, so you can get outside for more hours, say from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (rather than 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the winter).

Your schedule may be less hectic in the summer and give you the leisure time to devote to fitness, especially if you do not have to make sure your children go to school in the morning and finish homework at night. Plus, […]

“I would love to eat healthy, but I just don’t have the budget or time for that right now.”

With all the expensive juices, powders, and superfoods that people think they need to be “healthy,” I don’t blame people for saying that! But as a nutrition student applying to get my master’s degree and become a registered dietitian (RD), I’ve been living that college budget life for quite some time.

One of the most common questions I get asked is: “How can I afford eating […]